The Legion of Ice
by TheDragon12
Summary: The past 500 years since the Giant War ended has Artemis worried: there have been few monsters roaming, and her strange visitor has been warning of a sinister event to come. Meanwhile, the huntresses have received no news of this from their mistress, but Annabeth has the feeling that something is coming. And when Winter himself warns of danger, who can ignore it?
1. Chapter 1

**Hey guys. This is a story I've wanted to write for a couple of years now, so hopefully you all enjoy. I don't have the entire plot worked out by any means, just different parts I want to include, so feel free to leave some ideas, or something you want to see.**

 **One thing I want to add: Although this takes place several hundred years after Heroes of Olympus and such, the world will be for all intents and purposes the same as it was then. Same technology, same sports and countries, and so on. This will make it easier to understand. Also, a some of the events in Blood of Olympus, House of Hades, etc. will not have happened the way they did in the books; I want to change some of them to enhance the way this story flows.**

 **Thanks for giving this a chance, and read on!**

* * *

It was a dark night. The moon was shrouded by unseen clouds and the stars were veiled. Thus it was when Annabeth walked to the edge of the cliff, the churning grey ocean was almost invisible far below. A cold wind sliced through the air, and not even the silver parka and gear Annabeth was wearing could stop it. Her honey blonde hair whipped in the breeze.

Annabeth stared down at the ocean below. It seemed that the Ocean was always in an uproar whenever she went to it. Annabeth couldn't blame it, she guessed. If she was the ocean, she would be ticked off too. Still, she couldn't help it; the ocean always calmed her down, though she figured it wasn't the same vice versa. Annabeth always took these times to collect her thoughts and think; that _was_ what she was best at, after all.

She sat down on the edge of the cliff and smiled. This was very similar to the time at Westover Hall, so long ago. Had it already been almost five hundred years? Incredible. Those had been great times, though. She'd been through everything— those were the happiest moments of her life, she thought. Especially the times with... Percy.

Annabeth put her head in her hands and massaged her temples with her thumbs. _Come on, forget it! It's been almost five hundred years_ — _he's dead! Stop thinking about him! Besides, you're a Hunter of Artemis_ — _no boys!_ A tear slipped out and rolled down her cheek without her noticing. _Even though he was your best friend, and he saved your life countless times and you saved his. And you broke up with him, and he went missing days later._ She stopped her thinking. Why had she been so stupid? She had everything she wanted in a guy with Percy, and she blew it, for a completely stupid reason. _Way to go, daughter of Athena._ Granted Athena didn't seem too upset that they broke up, but that's beside the point.

She heard the sound of a light footfall on snow behind her. Without looking back, she miserably said, "Hey, Thals."

The daughter of Zeus plopped down on the ground next to her. The silver tiara rested on her head, signifying her position of Lieutenant of Artemis. "Well hello there, Miss-Ray-of-Sunshine."

Annabeth just glared back.

Thalia held up her hands. "Whoa, easy there." She paused. "What's wrong?"

"I was thinking of _him_ again."

"Uh-oh," Thalia replied, mainly to herself as she knew that her friend was just going to keep talking anyways.

"I came out here to clear my mind, but I made the mistake of looking at the ocean for too long. Then _he_ popped into my head and wouldn't leave."

Thalia sat down and wrapped her arm around Annabeth's shoulders. "Come on, Annie, it's been hundreds of years already; you have to let it go."

Annabeth buried her head in her hands. "I betrayed him."

"No you didn't. You did what you thought you had to do; he left of his own free will."

"But now he's dead, and I'll never get to see him again. My last memory of him is the broken look on his face that day."

Thalia paused. She always had to be wary when Annabeth was in one of these fits. Knowing nothing she could say would really comfort Annabeth, all she said was, "Come on. We'll go get some hot cocoa and we can talk about it later, sound good?"

Annabeth nodded almost imperceptibly and followed Thalia back to camp. After a little hot chocolate and some chat with some of the other huntresses, Annabeth was back to normal. Well, at least on the outside; it seemed like she had forgotten the incident by now. They all talked and laughed around the campfire that night, as most nights went. Only Thalia noticed the sad look Annabeth would get when she thought nobody was looking. Her gaze would fall towards the snowy ground and the smile disappeared, but as soon as someone else laughed or she was called by name, she would return right back to normal, with a twinkle in her eyes and a cheery smile upon her face. Before they returned to their tents, Thalia gave one last concerned glance towards Annabeth. That night, all but three people went to bed happy and relaxed.

* * *

Artemis, however, was not relaxed. The monsters they'd been pursuing for weeks had not been found yet. Actually, they had found no trace of them whatsoever. The Huntresses had heard rumor of powerful monsters causing havoc, so they followed the trail. The hunt led them over multiple weeks to a part of Canada just north of Maine. Here they were, in the middle of December, and still no sign of any monsters.

The past few decades, centuries even, had been very odd indeed. Not only had powerful monsters been almost completely unheard of, there had been a huge decrease in the amount of normal monsters roaming the world. As glad as those tidings may seem, Artemis was fairly sure that it was a precursor to something large and sinister, but nothing had appeared to back that theory up.

Then there was her visitor, Mister Winter himself. He'd shown up twice in the past two months, both times warning her of things to come and trying to persuade her to abandon all present hunts and return closer to home. Sure, she'd met him many times before, mostly at Olympus, but these warnings she would not heed, even though he was a close friend to her.

The second time he showed up was the previous week. That had been an... interesting evening as she remembered it.

 _Artemis stood in her tent poring over ancient scrolls and writings. Her brother insisted to get a smartphone instead, but she wasn't the one to abandon the old ways. She had been searching for hours on something to explain the lack of monsters, but nothing had come up. She was in a particularly rotten mood when she felt the temperature drop and heard a voice speak behind her._

 _"You know, as nifty as scrolls may be, they really are not very efficient. Are you_ sure _that you don't want to try the Internet or something?"_

 _Artemis rolled her eyes and allowed herself a small smile. Here_ he _was again_ — _one of the few males that she didn't feel like killing (well, usually), and certainly the only one she would consider a close friend. She turned around and looked at her visitor._

 _He was dressed in light jeans and a tight-fitting, light blue polo shirt despite the winter raging on outside. He wore white moccasins that matched his messy, snow-white hair and had aviator sunglasses covering his icy blue eyes. When she turned around, he paused for a moment and rubbed his hand across his face and said, "Um, could you change to, oh, I don't know, normal age perhaps, because it's_ really _hard to talk to you when you look like a kid."_

 _"I haven't even started talking yet," she pointed out, but she complied anyways and changed into a young woman._

 _"Thank you; that's much better."_

 _Artemis nodded. "You are here...why?"_

 _"Oh, you know why I'm here."_

 _"I've told you already, I can't just abandon_ — _,"_

 _"You don't understand," he interrupted. Artemis could feel his cold gaze through the sunglasses. "Something is stirring, something powerful. I've explored this much over the past few decades, and I think whatever it is will be coming soon."_

 _"How can you be so sure?"_

 _He took off his sunglasses and tossed them aside, where they evaporated into frost. His icy eyes peered straight into her soul, it seemed. After centuries, Artemis still couldn't get used to those eyes, and she mustered her will to keep eye contact. "I went down to Tarturus," he started darkly, and the temperature in the tent dropped even more than it had when he first arrived. "Things there are...worse than expected."_

 _She frowned. "How so?"_

 _He grimaced. "There are stirrings deep in the dark. Things awaking that have not stirred for eons."_

 _Artemis crossed her arms. "How does this affect_ me _?"_

 _"Whatever is coming would very much so like to destroy or capture a goddess and kill one of Olympus's fighting forces."_

 _Artemis glared up at him. Oh how infuriating it was that he was the taller of the two. "So now I cannot defend myself or my huntresses?"_

 _The man held up his hands in surrender. "I never said that."_

 _"You implied it."_

 _He breathed out deeply and put his hand on Artemis's shoulder. "Something is coming. Why do you think there have been almost no monsters the past few centuries? They're building up their forces, and the attack is coming soon. If you stay out here, you_ will _be attacked, and don't expect hellhounds and dracaenae._

 _"Who's 'they_ ' _?"_

 _He said nothing at all; he just stared her–- his message was conveyed clearly enough. Snow swirled around his feet and up towards his knees in his agitation. She sucked in her breath._

 _"It's been too soon; are you sure it's her?"_

 _"If it's not her, she's behind it. That much I am sure about."_

 _Artemis stared at the ground. To abandon the hunt? That was something she would not do. "I'm sorry, but I cannot leave the hunt; I will stay and hunt_ — _these monsters pose a threat to Olympus."_

 _He surged forward and gently grasped her upper arm. "You and your hunters are reckoning with a greater force than you know of. Remember what happened to me?"_

 _The last part stuck in her mind, but she shoved it aside and continued._

 _"I am the Goddess of the Hunt; I will not abandon it. What happened to you will_ not _happen to me."_

 _Frustration was evident in his face. "Very well, but don't expect any help."_

 _She stared defiantly at him. "We do_ not _need your help. I do_ not _need your help. We are perfectly fine on our own."_

 _"I might not be able to bail you guys out again."_

 _"Leave!" she commanded._

 _"I didn't want to have to bring this up, but if it wasn't for_ me _, there would be no_ you _, right now, and no Olympus either. Not after the last time you wouldn't heed my advice."_

 _"Be gone!"_

 _The visitor help up his hands in submission, his eyebrows narrowed in annoyance and anger. His icy eyes left one last chill upon Artemis's soul, and turned to walk out of the tent. At the last moment he stopped and snapped his fingers. On a table appeared box-shaped object covered by a cloth. "Oh, by the way, happy birthday." And then he disappeared in a puff of snow, a cold wind ripping through the tent in a second before dissipating._

 _Artemis rolled her eyes and smothered a smile. How he found out her birthday in the first place was something she didn't even try to figure out._

 _She tried to shrug off his warning, but part of it stayed with her for a long time. The hunt would go on, but if what he said was true..._

 _In the end, when Artemis walked out of her tent holding a snow white jackalope with ice blue eyes, her hunters were very much confused, especially since many of them thought they heard another voice inside of the tent. When asked, Artemis responded that a guest brought news from Olympus._

Now she sat in her tent with her jackalope on her lap. Something had felt wrong all day, and she had a growing sense of unease as the day progressed. Artemis would not abandon her hunt; that was for sure, but a part of her wondered if she was being rash. Was she endangering the lives of her huntresses? That's what she was afraid of.

Artemis shook off the dark feeling. She was the Goddess of the Hunt; no one will interfere with her hunt. With that she retired to bed. Night fell upon the camp.

* * *

 **Well, hopefully you all enjoyed. Please leave a review, telling me what you thought, or how I could make this better. Thanks for reading and have a great day!**

 **~TheDragon12**


	2. Chapter 2

**Woo-hoo! Next Chapter! Lucky for you guys, this next chapter is a bit longer than the last one, so hopefully you enjoy that. I hope that you all like it, and please leave a review. Read on!**

* * *

Several nights later, it was Annabeth's turn to take watch. Her's and Thalia's, actually. After they had been awoken, they made their way around the campsite. As they walked in silence, Annabeth noticed how peacefully the silver tents rested among the growing snowdrifts. She and seen this same sight many times over the centuries, but tonight she took special notice of them for an unknown reason.

The cold north wind howled furiously among the pines, bringing with it a flurry of snow and ice. Small, intricately-formed flakes laid white in both her hair and Thalia's. Usually, her parka provided enough insulation to keep her nice and toasty, but tonight was different. Annabeth knew not why, but the icy wind pierced her parka easily, chilling her to the bone. As she walked, she could have _sworn_ the snow was trying to ensnare her feet and pull her down. "Something's not right here," she murmured under her breath.

"What'd you say?" Thalia asked, somehow hearing her over the wind.

"Something doesn't feel right," she said warily, "and I don't know what. I've had the weirdest feeling all night, since I went to the cliff. It's an ominous feeling; something's wrong here." In her mind flashed an image of a sword pommel coming at her forehead, but she shook the memory aside. _No_ , she thought, _I am_ not _going to think about that. Not now._

"What do you mean? It seems just like any other night to me."

"I don't know; the wind sounds threatening and is piercing this jacket like it's not there, and the snow is acting like quicksand. Call me crazy, but winter must have a bone to pick with me."

Thalia laughed. "So because you're a little cold, something is wrong?"

Annabeth punched her shoulder playfully. "Shut up, Thals. That's not what I mean and you know it."

"Then what _did_ you mean?"

She sighed in frustration. "Oh, I don't know. Maybe there's just a bad storm coming."

"I don't think that's what you really meant."

Annabeth threw her hands up. "Gee, I'm really glad _you_ know my thoughts. I thought that _I_ did, but I was clearly mistaken."

Thalia laughed. "Yeah, thank Gods you have me."

Annabeth tried to frown, but keeping any sort of a smile off her face was becoming nigh impossible. "You know what, Thals? You really know how to tick a person off."

"Thanks, I've been perfecting that trick for like, five hundred years now."

"I can te-" she began, until she was interrupted by Thalia.

"Uh, Annie? You might want to stop walking now."

Annabeth didn't realize this, but during their conversation, she seemed to have subconsciously steered the two of them towards the cliff, and she was now standing several feet from the edge. As she peered down towards the tumultuous waves crashing against the base of the precipice, her mind was assaulted with scattered images, locked away memories: that same sword pommel swung at her head, a flag dropping from her hands in darkness, an empty blue cabin, a lonely beach with the only prints leading into the tide… and a pyre. _No! Get out of my mind!_

Her legs collapsed, and she dropped to her knees, her face in her hands like before. She heard Thalia cry something out, but her mind comprehended nothing. She rubbed her temples with her index fingers, trying to scatter the unwanted thoughts from her head and clear her thoughts, but they were slow in receding into the depths of her memory. Suddenly, icy blue eyes appeared in her mind, and they were eyes that Annabeth knew she would never forget, as they peered deep into her soul. _Beware,_ a masculine voice said, _for danger lurks at every turn._

Annabeth's eyes flew open at that and she gasped in the subzero air. All drowsiness and shock had left her in an instant, as if she had just been plunged into an icy stream; her blood ran cold in her veins, and it invigorated her; she had never felt anything like it before. Her mind cleared immediately, and everything returned to normal.

"Annie!" Thalia repeated for the third time, though Annabeth didn't hear the first two callings. "Annabeth, what's wrong with you?"

Annabeth waved her off, still trying to keep a cool mind after the recent ordeal. "No-nothing. I'm fine," she said shakily.

Thalia crossed her arms and narrowed her eyebrows. "That's B-S and you know it. What's wrong? You just collapsed at the edge of a cliff for no reason, and earlier this week I saw you crying by yourself. So what's the deal?"

She exhaled. "It's just… _he's_ been in my thoughts, and I can't seem to prevent it. Once he's there, I can't get rid of him."

"Annie, I just told you this earlier, but you have to _let it go_. It's been half a millennium alre-,"

"Exactly," Annabeth interrupted. "For five hundred years I had no problem with this at all. Then, suddenly, I can't _not_ think about it. The same time _that_ started was when I started feeling nervous for some reason. I just feel this ominous presence or shadow above our camp, and I don't know what to make of it."

Did you talk to Lady Artemis about any of this?"

"No. I really have nothing to go off of; just gut feelings. No information, no nothing."

"She would still listen."

"Maybe, but I sti-,"

They both jumped at the somewhat-high squawk that interrupted them. Turning around, Annabeth saw a little Frost dragonling, maybe three feet from nose to tail, spreading its wings and doing its best to look ferocious.

To say she wasn't a little surprised wouldn't have been true. Now, she had seen dragons before, not including Peleus at Camp Half-Blood, but dragons just weren't very common. Nor were they very widely regarded as greek-esque monsters. Drakons were, but dragons were seen more as a different race, and that coupled with their secluded and isolationist habits led to very few sightings.

Well, usually. There was still that _one_ dragon five hundred years ago that changed the outcome of the War with the Giants, but that just led to more painful memories.

So it was that when a recently-hatched Frost Dragon interrupted her conversation with Thalia, Annabeth was more surprised than annoyed. Thalia, though, _was_ annoyed.

"Scram," she muttered, her silver bow appearing in her hand. When the dragonling still didn't back off, instead lowering its head and glaring at Annabeth with icy eyes, Thalia loosed an arrow at it before she could object.

In the blink of an eye, the dragon flapped its wings and rose above the arrow before alighting back on the ground, bellowing its ferocious squeak, except it was directed at _Annabeth_ , not its attacker. When Annabeth tried to shoo it away with her hands, the hatchling nipped at the fingers, and when that failed, he blew his icy breath at her. If the dragon was older, the icy breath (instead of most dragons' fire) could be fatal, but at this young age, it could barely cause minor frostbite.

Annabeth withdrew her now-numb hands and stood up quickly waving both of her hands (with her bow appearing in one) until the dragon squeaked and hopped back, eventually leaping into the winter sky and gliding away, periodically looking back with an angry squeal until it was lost in the tall pines bordering the camp.

She warily sat back down, massaging the warmth back into her fingers. Her mood had darkened quite a bit with the past minute or two turning out the way it did.

"Well, that was… weird." Thalia noted.

Annabeth shook her head, confused. "So you shoot at the dragon, and it _still_ attacks me. You see what I mean by winter having a bone to pick with me?"

"Okay, I don't know if you can even call that an attack. If it bit you, it _might_ have drawn blood, but that's iffy."

"But you see what I mean, right?" Annabeth continued, unperturbed. "You tell it to scram, and it glares at _me_. You shoot at it, and it gets mad at _me._ I didn't do a single thing to it, and it hated me. Plus it was a _frost_ dragon. Tell me everything's normal."

Thalia shrugged. "I mean, if you want, we could talk to Artemis, like I suggested _before_ this whole incident. Ask about the dragon _and_ the feelings you've been having. She probably knows something we don't."

She sighed. "I don't know. I don't want to come off sounding crazy and/or paranoid."

"Think about it this way. When was the last time we saw a frost dragon?"

"Years; maybe decades? It's been a long time. But we never saw just a hatchling alone."

Thalia smiled. "Exactly. Come on, daughter of Athena, what does it mean if we see a hatchling?"

Suddenly it dawned on her. "It means that there's a full-fledged adult nearby."

"And seeing as we're hunting ancient monsters that none of us have been able to find yet…"

"We may have just found them."

"Exactly."

"So should we tell her _now_? Or wait until morning?

"It might be better to tell her now."

As Annabeth and Thalia started trudging towards Artemis's tent, a loud squawk was heard. They both stopped, looking towards the sky. It sounded very similar to a normal eagle, but then again, it could have been a gryphon.

Scoping the surrounding area, Annabeth took note of the large, bright moon that dominated the onyx sky. Probably to reflect who they were travelling with, the moon always appeared huge to Annabeth and, she assumed, the other huntresses. All around, tall dark pines grew high into the sky, waving the cold night breeze that now swept her golden hair around her face. A sheer rock face rose high above the pines, one side of a tall bluff they had traversed the past day.

If she squinted, Annabeth thought she could almost see something on top of the cliff, but that vanished after she blinked. All around, there were no other signs of anything. No monsters, no nothing. She sighed. "Let's keep going, Thals. Must've been an eagle."

* * *

Artemis sat uneasily in her tent, her newly-gifted jackalope resting on her lap. She thought about what Winter had told her the previous week. A feeling of dread, an ominous curtain, had hung over her since he visited, and she sensed that something was coming, but she knew not what nor when.

She had even contacted her brother, but even as Lord of Delphi and its Prophetess, as well as God of prophecy, Apollo had not been able to tell her anything. Whether out of ignorance or choice, though, she wasn't sure. Apollo even tried to side against her, telling her to abandon the hunt and return to Olympus, but that had made her more resolute in her effort. To be told she couldn't do something was not an option she would follow, but to be told that by both Apollo _and_ Winter… she would not bring her huntresses back to Olympus unless eradication as certain.

Still, her decision loomed large now over her head. Once she had been captured and forced to hold the Sky after failing to heed Apollo's warnings. And last time she ignored _Winter_? Well, that went even worse.

 _Di Immortales, The answer to this dilemma evades me, and I know not where to go for answers._

Suddenly, a rap on the entrance to her tent brought her out of her internal arguments. Artemis sat up quickly, the jackalope hopping off her lap and coming to rest near the warmth of the brazier. She knew not which huntress would come at this hour of the night. "Enter."

In walked her lieutenant and her second-in-command. Thalia looked alert, as usual, and restrained. But Annabeth, there was a strange look in her face that Artemis could not perceive. She knew something must have happened, though, for the two of them to show up at this time.

"What is amiss?" she asked.

"My Lady," Thalia began, "We think we may know _something_ about the monsters we've been pursuing."

Artemis's eyes widened. "Yes? What have you found?"

"A hatchling frost dragon kind of attacked Annabeth," Thalia started unconfidently.

Annabeth then finished her thought. "And we figure that there is a massive adult nearby, probably dangerous."

Artemis sighed and walked to the back of her tent. She was fairly confident she knew who was behind the dragon… or _was_ the dragon for that matter. Still, it was rare to see them; perhaps other things were stirring, too. "I do not know if the frost dragon is a threat in itself, but if you saw it, perhaps other monsters are emerging. We must hunt for those."

There was a pause as Thalia and Annabeth took this in. "My Lady," Annabeth began, "there's more you have to hear."

Artemis nodded for her to continue, and once turned her back to them, looking over an ancient text.

"There was a vision in my head, of two icy blue eyes. A voice told me to 'beware', saying how danger was everywhere. Never had I heard or felt anything like that."

Artemis rolled her eyes when she heard Annabeth say "icy blue eyes". She really was going to have to rebuke Winter if he kept this up. "Continue, Annabeth. There's something else you want to say."

Annabeth took in a deep breath. "I-I've been having weird feelings for the past week. Just this sense of _dread_ , like an ominous shadow is hanging over the camp."

At this, Artemis froze. She turned around. "Do you feel as though something... _big_...is coming? A feeling of incoming danger?"

She nodded. "Exactly that. I've been feeling it for a week now. Exactly that feeling."

"So have I," Artemis answered softly. She took a deep breath, and her eyes fluttered shut. _There is no option now. My fears have been affirmed._ "When dawn breaks, we shall withdraw. We will return to Olympus."

Thalia's eyes widened. "My Lady?"

She nodded, taking a shaky breath. "There is no other option. I have been too stubborn to heed the warnings for weeks now, but we can do that no longer. The safety of the Hunt is more important than my pride."

"What warnings, Lady Artemis?"

Artemis waved the two off. "It is of no matter now. I believe your watch is at an end; it would be good for the two of you to rest for the remainder of the night. At dawn we depart."

She could see that Annabeth and Thalia both wanted to say much more, but instead they both bowed and exited the tent, for which she was extremely grateful. The gravity of her decision still rested heavily on her shoulders and on her heart, but she knew she could carry on with this mission no longer. This was her duty.

As night waned, one would have found Artemis sitting in deep meditation, peering with wide eyes into the fire, both seeking information from her memory and help from her aunt.

* * *

After withdrawing from Artemis's tent, Thalia and Annabeth strode around the camp instead of getting sleep right away. Both of their nerves were drawn too taut from the previous events for either of them to find slumber, anyways. As a result, the decided to take the next group's watch and let them sleep.

While walking, Aredhel, Annabeth's favorite of the wolves that followed the camp, started walking between her and Thalia. It was comforting to stroke the white hair while she talked with Thalia, but it didn't remove the anxious feeling from her mind completely.

At one point, when the two (well, three) paced near the dark forest, Aredhel slouched down and growled at the woods, the fur on her neck and back pointing almost straight up.

Cautiously, the silver bow appeared in both Annabeth's and Thalia's hands. "What is it, girl?" Annabeth asked Aredhel, but the wolf only continued to growl.

"Should we get Artemis?" Thalia asked.

"I don't know. I can't hear or see anything right now."

Suddenly, a loud, slithering noise started to emanate from the forest. There was the sound of falling, crashing trees, and the noise only got louder. Other, softer (yet no less threatening) roars were heard amid the slithering sound, and Annabeth and Thalia started to back up slowly from the woods. "You just had to jinx it, didn't you?" Thalia said to Annabeth.

Suddenly, a monstrous drakon burst forth from the forest. The beast was the largest Annabeth had seen in centuries, and she was close enough to see the venom dripping from its fangs and smell the gut-wrenching scent of rotten flesh that came from its maw. From the sound of it, more monsters weren't far behind.

"Well, I think we found the monsters we were looking for," Thalia said.

"I'm beginning to think that the baby frost dragon won't be that big of a problem," Annabeth answered.

* * *

High above the camp, atop the rocky cliff, were two beings. One was dressed in dark jeans with a bronze breastplate strapped to his torso. The breastplate was engraved with a sun, and aviator shades adorned his face. The other being wore khaki shorts and a white long-sleeve shirt with the sleeves rolled up. He wore no sunglasses, leaving his piercing blue eyes visible underneath his unruly white hair. "You know," he started, "your sister is _really_ stubborn."

The other chortled. "You're telling me. I was with her since _birth_. She's more than stubborn."

"No matter how much I warned her, she still wouldn't listen. Even _after_ last time."

"Oof. Point taken. I even tried warning her, too. Siding with you, though, maybe wasn't the best idea."

"Yeah, that might not have helped much. Maybe if you would have told her _not_ to abandon the Hunt, she would have. She doesn't listen to you much, Apollo."

"Ouch. That hurts."

The blue-eyed man shrugged. "Sorry, bro. It's the truth."

"What about that girl, though? What you did was pretty intense."

He shrugged. "Can you blame me? Besides, Artemis needs to hear it from one of her huntresses, and she deserved it."

"Still mad?"

"Shaddup."

Then he snapped his finger, and two lawn chairs materialized on the edge of the cliff with bags of popcorn in the cup-holder. "Almost time."

Apollo smiled. "If she finds out about this, we are _so_ dead."

"Hey, we didn't arrange this; I just found out about it before she did. Besides, it's just a few monsters, not even that hard. But it'll still be nice to say 'I told you so.'"

The two sat down with their feet up, looking down on the camp below. They saw Thalia and Annabeth emerge from Artemis's tent; at that moment, there was a golden flash from behind them. Apollo turned around at the same time the blue-eyed man tilted his head backwards over the headrest of the chair.

"What's up, dude?" he asked while Apollo said, "Hermes!" with a big smile on his face.

Hermes inclined his head when he saw the two of them. "What're you doing this time?"

"Oh, nothing really. Just watching Arty be _wrong_."

"What? You're kidding. Did I miss anything?"

"Nah, bro," Apollo answered. "Just in time," he finished as he summoned a lawn chair for Hermes, popcorn included.

"Ah, sweet! So what's the plan?"

The blue-eyed man threw some popcorn into his mouth. "There's some monsters coming towards the Huntresses. We warned Arty about this, but she didn't listen. This should shock her back to her senses."

"Um, couldn't this go real bad real fast?"

"Nah, that's why I'm here. If things get terrible, I'll jump in, therefore strengthening our 'I told you so' retort."

Hermes nodded. "Smart."

At that moment, a noise came from the woods. "Oh, here we go."

As they watched, they saw Thalia and Annabeth, as well as the wolf, back slowly away from the woods. But when the huge, 200 foot-long Drakon appeared from the forest, the blue-eyed man sprung up from his chair, the smile gone from his face. "Oh damn."

"What?" Apollo said warily.

"That's a Lydian Drakon," he responded, his voice urgent.

"You're kidding. I thought there was only one,"Hermes said, panic visible on his face.

"There is, and it should be locked away right now."

"Then how is it here?"

"I don't know. Things must be unraveling dow- _di immortales._ This isn't good."

"What do you mean?"

" _She_ called our bluff, and is attacking right now before she can't anymore. This isn't a few random monsters like I thought; these are the ones I saw escape Tartarus. It has begun."

Apollo and Hermes stood by with open mouths, dread spreading across their faces. "How can this happen?" Apollo asked.

"Because she's spent the past five hundred years building up her strength, and is now just starting to unleash a fragment of it. Something bad must be happening in the Underworld right now. Total war in the worst scenario, and if it's not there yet, it will be soon. As for the Huntresses and Artemis, every one of them down there is in mortal danger. She's back.

"What!" Hermes asked in shock. "That's not possible."

"Apparently it is," he answered, backing up away from the edge of the cliff. "Hermes, go to Olympus. Warn Zeus, and tell Ganymede to warn Hades, or see if he's even unharmed right now. Apollo, warn Poseidon. Gather everyone to Olympus. If we don't stop this soon, there will be no stopping it at all.

Apollo cast one last, worried glance at the glade where he knew his sister was in danger. The man with blue eyes seemed to know what he was feeling. "You can't go down there, Apollo. It's forbidden by the Fates; you cannot interfere."

"Yeah, but you can," he answered with an angry sigh.

"Ironic, isn't it." He responded dryly. "I bet she didn't foresee _this_ when she did what she did."

"Keep Arty safe. And the huntresses, too, I guess," Apollo remarked.

"I will; don't worry. Now you and Hermes warn the others RIGHT NOW!" With that, he sprinted towards the edge of the cliff before leaping right off, diving towards the forest below until he was gone from sight. A moment after that, a massive white dragon was visible gliding above the trees towards the battlefield, where Huntresses were just starting to emerge from their tents to fight the oncoming chaos. The dragon's roar was heard above the carnage.

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 **Well, there it is. I hope that all of you enjoyed it, and feel free to leave a review. Tell me what you liked, what you didn't like so I can change it, what you want to see, what you want me to do with this story, etc. I think I know where the plot is going to go, but if I get any really good ideas, who knows? Thanks for reading, and have a great day!**

 **~TheDragon12**


	3. Chapter 3

**Wow. This is a surprise. Look, I'm going to be totally honest with this one: this story is pretty much the least of my priorities, because I want to focus my time to my main story. Buuuuuuttt, when I get inspiration I'll keep writing this, and I'll try to get chapters up somewhat frequently... Maybe. We'll see. Either way, enjoy!**

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When the two hundred foot-long drakon burst from the trees, Annabeth's first thought was one that probably should not be repeated. As were her second and third thoughts also. Her fourth thought, though, was A-okay, and something along the lines of " _Well, crap. We're screwed."_

 _Gods, I have a problem._

"Hey, Thalia, remember Manhattan?"

"Uh… yeah?"

"Would you happen to have any flying chariots? Or electric spears?"

"I mean, I can make my spear electric… kind of. Fresh out of flying chariots though."

"Ah, that's a shame."

"Ooh yeah, quite unfortunate."

Together, she and Thalia backed away slowly, too shocked to turn and run. When Annabeth started sizing the beast up, looking for potential weaknesses, she made the mistake of looking into its eyes and froze. Very quickly she realized just how big the teeth were and how much venom was oozing from behind those fangs, smoking as it hit the snow. Those sinister eyes brought out every iota of fear that could be held in Annabeth's body, and she almost dropped her bow as she trembled.

The beast lunged and released a spurt of steaming venom at her, but Thalia dove to knock Annabeth out of the way at the last second. Once she hit the snowbank, the spell was broken and Annabeth regained her senses. Her silver bow suddenly appeared in her hands as she stood up, and she started firing a volley of arrows as she backed up, trying to find a chink in the drakon's armor. The other huntresses had emerged from their tents by this time and were doing the same. Soon the air was filled with silver darts whizzing by, but it all proved ineffective as the vast majority of them hit the titanium scales and fell harmlessly to the ground, broken.

Thalia, however, had ditched her bow soon into the battle and brought out both Aegis and her spear and she stood in front of the beast, centering its attention on herself and allowing the huntresses to shoot without too much danger. Thalia rolled and sidestepped, dodging the venom, but she couldn't last forever. Jabbing at the frothing mouth of it, she was able to draw some blood, but the beast roared in rage and Thalia fell backward with wide eyes and a look of panic on her face.

"No!" Annabeth screamed over the crash of the battle, and she sprinted towards her friend. Drawing a silver dagger, she sliced at the beast's snout, trying not to falter in front of the paralyzing gaze, but she was helped when an arrow buried its point in its eye. When it paused momentarily, she dragged Thalia back under the cover of the other hunters. Annabeth watched with hope as more and more arrows found the eyes or exposed mouth of the drakon.

 _We can win this,_ Annabeth thought hopefully, watching as it grew more wounded with every damaging arrow that found a soft spot.

Then all Hades broke loose.

Two more two-hundred-feet-long drakons burst through the trees behind the other one, and with them came an army of thirty-feet-tall Hyperborean giants wielding massive clubs, Laistrygonian giants, and other assorted monsters that Annabeth remembered fighting all the time in both the Titan and Giant Wars… monsters that had almost been unheard of the past five centuries.

"I thought there was only one Lydian drakon!" Thalia cried from the side, putting Aegis and her spear away in favor of her bow.

"There _was_ only one," a calm voice said, and Annabeth turned around to see Artemis standing behind them.

Annabeth watched as Artemis stalked forward, her face a deadly calm. She was no longer a thirteen year-old girl, but rather a serious woman of twenty years, a form Annabeth had only seen when conditions were at their most dire. A silver circlet rested on her head, and she wore a chiseled silver breastplate, with white leather-and-silver flaps covering her upper legs. Annabeth had never seen Lady Artemis wear armor before, much less full greek apparel.

"Then how come there are three of them trying to kill us right now!"

Artemis's gaze narrowed. "This should be impossible… Unless… No, there must be some sorcery at work," she murmured. She thrust her hand outwards at the attacking monsters like she did when using her powers, but nothing happened.

Annabeth, still launching arrows, looked on expectantly as the goddess's powers fizzled. Usually, the monster or whatever it was Artemis targeted would dissolve into a swarm of crows or a cloud of fireflies… but there was nothing that occurred. She looked at the goddess in shock. "Why isn't anything happening!"

Artemis frowned at her own hand, obviously frustrated. She held out her hand again, but this time a massive bow as tall as she was appeared in her hands. "We are up against a power greater than we have faced for millennia," she replied before joining her huntresses in the fight against the army that shouldn't have existed.

Annabeth wanted to ask her what she meant, but at that moment a Laistrygonian giant crashed through the lines of the hunters and Annabeth had to devote her attention to dispatching that. He swung at her with a huge, misshapen sword but she ducked under the blade, rolled through the giant's legs and stabbed him through the back with her blade, turning to fight the next monster as the giant dissolved into dust behind her.

Hunters perched in trees, trying to snipe whatever monsters they could while others jumped into the fray with knives, swords, or whatever weapons they preferred drawn and swinging. The lesser monsters weren't hard to slay, but the giants were far tougher, and they couldn't do anything against the drakons.

The fight raged on for what seemed like hours, though it was actually nowhere near an hour, with neither side having the definite advantage. The hunters suffered few losses, but there were too many monsters to keep up with. As Annabeth watched, one of the three drakons swept through the hunters' ranks and a group of girls went flying. Artemis literally flew through the monsters' lines, switching forms between her normal form, a lioness, a gigantic stag with silver antlers, and an eagle that raked its silver claws over the faces of monsters everywhere.

At one point, Artemis in the form of an eagle was able to slay one of the three Lydian drakons, the one that was already injured, but a second drakon reared up and smacked Artemis straight out of the sky. The monsters surged forward, and several more huntresses fell before them. Artemis slowly got up from where she landed close to Annabeth. She was bleeding golden ichor from many places all over her body, but she wearily got up with a terrifying expression on her face and fought with an intensity that none of the hunters could hope to match.

They fought on, but were ever pushed back. Behind them, the clearing gave way to dense pine forests which they could retreat into, but that that turned into steep rocky outcroppings and cliffs quickly that would be hard to traverse. And "retreat" was a word that was not on any girl's mind at that moment, despite the overwhelming force against them.

Looking in the face of death, she could hear her heart beating rapidly in her own ears as she fought for her life. Time slowed down: the monsters seemed to move in slow motion as she leapt once more into the fray, her tempo measured only by the beat of her heart:

 _Thud_

Events of the past five centuries of her life started to resurface in Annabeth's mind, flashing through her consciousness faster than one could blink, yet she saw them all clearly. Glimpsing to her side, she saw Thalia summon lightning and direct it off her spear to disintegrate a cluster of monsters, and she remembered the day she first met Luke and Thalia in the alleyway when she was seven. She remembered her different safehouses the three of them visited on their way to Camp Half-Blood.

 _Thud_

Resurfacing in her mind, she saw the completed version of Mount Olympus after years of work, redesigned with her at the helm of the architecture.

 _Thud_

She saw the ceremony at which her mother personally thanked and congratulated her for her work, a laurel wreath placed on her head in front of all the Olympians. Athena looked on with pride, Artemis with interest and pride, even Zeus seemed _not_ upset, which was a huge honor. It was only when she glanced over at Poseidon that a pit settled in her stomach as she looked away quickly at the calm anger rolling off him like waves.

 _Thud_

She remembered when she joined the Hunters of Artemis. She was twenty, in the midst of redesigning Olympus. She had longed for something, for a closeness with others that she had lost at camp after… well, _it_ happened. Immediately she felt a sense of belonging, and with Thalia there she was so happy.

 _Thud_

She remembered the look on Chiron's face when the hunters visited Camp Half-Blood, the way his face lit up when he saw her for the first time in years, her first time back since joining the Hunters.

 _Thud_

She remembered the the happiness she felt the past five hundred years; and looking death straight in the eye, she felt peace. She slashed, and a monster's head embedded itself in the snow with a low _thump,_ already dissolving into dust.

 _Thud_

But then her thoughts changed against her will once again and her mind turned cold.

 _No! What's happening?_

She saw Percy standing before the gods after the battle of Manhattan, turning down immortality for her.

 _Thud_

She saw the two of them at the bottom of the canoe lake, their arms around each other as they had their first proper kiss.

 _Thud_

She saw them walking on a beach, his raven hair windswept, his eyes matching the sea perfectly. Whenever she saw Percy in the ocean, he barely seemed mortal in her eyes, and she watched as he gazed lovingly at her.

 _Thud_

Then her mind turned icier, and guilt clutched her stomach. She saw the exact scenes that had invaded her mind earlier the night. The sword pommel whirring towards her forehead…

 _Thud_

Footsteps in the sand leading into the churning ocean...

 _Thud_

A pitch black shroud, emblazoned with a sea green trident, burning in cobalt flames. The salty scent as the shroud crumbled to ash…

 _Thud_

A tear managed to slip down her cheek, as she whirled around monsters, bow and knives singing, but Annabeth's eyes narrowed in anger as she forced the thoughts out of her head. _He's dead, Annabeth! And you will be too unless you freaking start acting like a Hunter instead of a child!_

Instantly, she all but blacked out as her mind was forcefully changed once again. She saw him, but not in any way that had happened before. He sat on a beach, one leg outstretched, the other one slightly bent, his hands loosely clasped around it. A single tear traced its way down his cheek.

 _Thud_

He stood, running his forearm across his eyes then looked at the sky with a determined glare. The ocean turned choppy and gray underneath the sheen of the full moon as he stepped down the surf into the waves. He stopped with the water halfway up his calves and turned around to the familiar-looking trees. "I guess this is goodbye ," he murmured. Then water shot up out of the ocean in the shape of a trident before solidifying in his grasp. He disappeared beneath the waves.

 _Thud_

 _Get_ 一 _Out_ 一 _Of_ 一 _My_ 一 _Head!_

Annabeth blinked unsurely before realizing her mind was hers once again, just in time to dodge a charging monster. Her head cleared instantly, her heartbeat drowned out. She continued to fire, not knowing which shot would be her last. Stepping backwards, the snow seemed to surge up and grasp her leg and she stumbled and fell to the ground. She laid there, sprawled out in the snow and momentarily stunned as a huge Hyperborean leaned over her, wielding a club made of a massive tree trunk. She looked at her bow, lying out of reach, and she knew it was the end.

Then those same icy blue eyes appeared in her mind again, and with them came the same masculine voice, but this time there was a cold edge to it. _Daughter of Athena,_ it scoffed. _When warned of danger, it would be wise to heed it._

And at that moment, the giant in front of her grunted and stood up straight, unmoving. Something had pierced its heart and now poked out of its chest, and it toppled over and dissolved in a dust of ice. All that was left was the object that had pierced it: a two foot-long icicle, sharp as a spear.

She sat up, trying to figure out what in Hades just happened, when a deafening roar shook the battlefield. Her view was blocked by several Hyperborean giants; but when they heard the roar, they stopped charging the hunters. Some even turned on the other monsters and fought them.

 _What is going on today?_ Annabeth though, utterly confused.

Then she saw it.

The most massive dragon she had ever seen, soaring low in the sky. It was a huge, pure-white frost dragon with a wingspan that was almost as far across as the drakon was long. It came from behind where the monsters ambushed them, and the dragon just sort of… appeared.

 _Nothing that huge should be able to sneak up on us!_

But the dragon didn't attack them like she thought it would. As she watched, the beast soared over the carnage, breathing a white fire at the monsters. Except, it wasn't fire it was breathing at them, but _ice_. Monsters were literally being frozen when the dragon attacked before slowly disintegrating into a flurry of snow.

The hunters started to cheer as the dragon completed its first pass. It circled over the girls to make another pass, and Annabeth could only stand speechless as the dark shadow passed came over her then passed just as quickly. She saw Artemis looking up at the drake with an annoyed expression on her face which Annabeth didn't understand.

 _Not that I've understood much of what's happened today._

She and the other hunters could only watch with shock and awe as it flew towards one of the two Lydian drakons and _picked it up_ in its four sets of claws, its huge talons piercing the armor of the drakon easily. The drakon squirmed and spit poison, but the frost dragon flew over the edge of the cliff and dropped it to the churning ocean far below before turning and charging back towards the last drakon. When it was directly above it, there was a flash of white and light blue and the dragon was gone. In its place was a figure falling fifty feet towards drakon's head.

As the figure fell, a bright flash signaled the appearance of a ten foot-long spear in his hands. The figure, who seemed to be a man based on his build, landed with incredible amounts of force on the last drakon's head and used that force to drive his spear straight through the head, several feet of the spear disappearing in the beast.

The drakon crumbled to dust, armor and all (which surprised Annabeth), leaving the figure standing in the snow. He turned his back to the hunters, as if admiring the opposing army, before lazily raising his right hand. Suddenly, the snow surged up in sharp spikes around every monster except the Hyperboreans, killing them instantly. The Hyperboreans ran off into the woods, leaving Annabeth unsure as to why they were spared. Her train of thought stopped, however, when the man turned around and started walking towards them.

The "daughter of Athena" part of Annabeth went into overdrive in situations like this as she started taking in every detail. No helmet or breastplate anymore. White long-sleeve shirt一sleeves rolled up. Khaki shorts. Obviously the cold didn't affect the man: maybe not surprising considering he had full control over the snow and ice it seemed. A toned, muscular body. Unruly young white hair that grew even messier in the breeze and was actually kinda cute一

 _Woah, where did that come from?_

Annabeth rolled her eyes and cleared her head momentarily, then went back to inspecting the man walking towards them with an angry expression on his face. White moccasins on his feet that tread on the surface of the snow, not sinking in at all. And piercing, ice-blue eyes that一

 _Those are the eyes!_

Annabeth felt like she had been punched in the gut as all the air left her. _This_ was the person who had invaded her mind recently. At first she could only stare, not quite believing what was in front of her. Then her gaze narrowed as she grew angry.

"You!" she shouted, her bow appearing in her hands with a silver arrow drawn and aimed at the man's face.

He halted several feet and turned his full gaze towards her, causing her to stop in her tracks. Instantly, she froze. Not out of nervousness (though that was present also). No, she _literally_ froze—her body started to grow numb and she couldn't move a limb.

The man walked towards her, stopping an inch in front of the arrow that was still drawn and aimed at him in her frozen state. With exaggerated movements, he plucked the arrow from her bow and easily snapped it in half between two fingers. Then took the bow from her frozen hands and cast it aside before staring her in the eyes from eight inches away.

His eyes were both fascinating and terrifying at the same time. They were such a cold, icy blue一much like that of a Siberian Husky. They seemed to morph with streaks of white, as if blizzards raged inside his gaze. And the _anger,_ the _pain_ … Annabeth wanted desperately to turn away and find someplace warm to dispel all the coldness that this man's gaze imparted upon her, but she was frozen in place.

"Be careful, Daughter of Athena," he hissed slowly, "of the words you cast at others. For you do not know to whom you speak."

Annabeth longed to say something, whether to rebuke him for invading her mind (solely because she believed Artemis would protect her from this man's wrath and side with her) or to profusely apologize for ever offending him, but she could not yet move nor talk.

The god, for that was undoubtedly what he was, held her in his icy gaze for several painfully long moments before slowly turning away. With a snap of his fingers, the bonds freezing Annabeth in place were banished so suddenly that she fell face-first into the snow.

 _Wonderful. As if that hasn't happened enough lately._

Suddenly a new voice spoke. "You may _not_ interfere with my Hunt, nor my Hunters," Artemis called down to their guest.

Looking up from the snow, Annabeth saw her Lady standing on a rocky outcropping higher than the rest of the hastily-made encampment. She still wore her battle regalia and her form flickered silver, as if she was struggling to keep her composure and refrain from bursting into her Divine form. Annabeth wasn't sure whether her anger came from the man… rescuing… them, or whether it was due to the numerous huntresses that were slain in the fight. Either way, it was slightly frightening to behold.

The man lazily glanced up at Artemis. His gaze grew playful for a moment as a smirk replaced his frown. "Oh you're so very welcome, Arty. I'm happy to help anytime."

As Artemis's composure grew even angrier, several thoughts crossed Annabeth's mind. One in particular:

 _Did he just call her '_ Arty' _?_

She sent a bewildered glance at Thalia who stood several paces to the side, bandaging another wounded Hunter. The daughter of Zeus could do nothing but reflect the confused look and shrug her shoulders hopelessly.

Annabeth turned back to the two immortals as Artemis spoke once more in a voice that left no room for disobedience. "Must I repeat myself? You may _not_ interfere."

At the stern words, the man's icy eyes narrowed and the temperature seemed to drop. Snow started to swirl fitfully around him. "Excuse me?" he retorted dangerously. "I wouldn't have had to _interfere_ if you would've cast your pride aside and returned to Olympus!"

The eyes of the Goddess of the Hunt blazed silver. "We did not need your help!"

Thalia had the courage to raise an eyebrow. "Erm, my Lady? We _may_ have needed一I mean, just a _little…_ "

Both deities ignored her as the man spoke once more. His voice grew louder and more powerful as his form started to flicker. Annabeth noted, however, that the flickering wasn't quite the same as when a god was beginning to summon their divine form. This was far more inconstant, as if he was trying to do that but was not powerful enough to summon his divinity. Despite this, he was still an imposing, _threatening_ figure at the moment as anger was evident on his form and flashes of blue and white flickered around his body.

"If I wouldn't have acted," he began, "your precious hunters would be gracing Charon with their presence一poor Charon, I might add一and you would most likely be in the grasp of those I've told you to run from!"

Thalia's brows scrunched together as she grasped what he had just said. "Hey!" she cried indignantly, which matched Annabeth's own feelings quite well, before Artemis responded.

Her glare deepened. "We would have been fine!"

With an exasperated expression he wheeled around, exaggeratedly waving his arms at the battlefield that was a mess of blood and monster dust. " _Fine?_ I should have just sat by and kept watching with my popcorn! At least then you would have been knocked down a couple pegs! You and that massive, man-hating ego of yours!"

This time, both of Thalia's eyebrows rose. "Popcorn? Really? Impressive."

The goddess literally _growled_ at the man _._ "I had thought there was an exception to that 'man-hating' preference, but I am _quickly_ reconsidering it."

"Would you really doom your hunters? Just to prove a point?"

Annabeth thought she saw Artemis flinch just a little, but soon the feral glare returned. "I would not have my huntresses harmed, but they were not in any more danger than what we have faced before!"

For a while the god did not respond; he stood silent, watching Artemis coldly as anger radiated off him. When he spoke again, it was with a voice little louder than a whisper. "Heed my warning, Daughter of Leto, lest you meet the same fate I did."

Annabeth's mind couldn't comprehend what he said. This man was a god, and a powerful one at that. What fate could he have possibly met? Especially since he still lived.

Artemis, however, understood the god's words. The goddess paled, and some of the anger faded from her silver eyes though she did not back down entirely. She merely swallowed before speaking again in a more timid voice than previously. "I will not meet your fate; I will not make the mistakes you did."

He exhaled, as if defeated. For a moment, all was silent but the rustle of wind that ruffled the god's snowy hair. "I should hope not," he whispered. "For you could not survive that same fate."

The facial expressions of Artemis softened at that moment, as if in pity or compassion, but she did not speak.

Annabeth was thoroughly perplexed, as was every other huntress it seemed.

"Who _are_ you?" Thalia asked, voicing the thought that was on everyone's mind.

The god regarded her and his face brightened considerably. A knowing smile broke out on his face, and it was shocking how differently he appeared when he and Artemis weren't trying to verbally strangle each other.

Annabeth shared a glance with her best friend, a silent look that could be interpreted easily between the two. " _He's hot,"_ Thalia's face said.

" _Not an opinion,"_ Annabeth stared back, " _an observation. Purely objective."_

Thalia nodded wordlessly. " _Yeah, that,"_ her expression responded.

"I've been called many names," the god answered to the daughter of Zeus. "But to many, I am Winter."

" _Winter?_ " she asked in confusion, before she was interrupted once again by the god.

"Now we—" he said, nodding at Artemis, "—have matters to take care of."

And, without waiting for any sort of response from the goddess, stepped forward and grasped her upper arm before the two vanished in a flurry of snow.

Thalia sighed. " _Di immortales,_ every time I think I almost understand most of the _weird_ that happens to us, something new pops up."

Annabeth frowned. Something about the figure seemed familiar, yet at the same time so foreign. There was an interesting history to him, she felt; there was something about him she hadn't felt with any other immortal. He was different. They all could have died that day, had he not interfered, yet Artemis was so loath to acknowledge the danger _Winter_ had rescued them from. Nothing made sense.

She looked up at the sky, where Zoë danced in the starry sky. There was a feeling of foreboding, as if the heroes immortalized in the sky could see the danger beyond the horizon and were trying to warn the unlucky souls below.

The world was about to change, and the daughter of Athena knew it.

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 **Hope you enjoyed! If you have any ideas or questions, don't be afraid to leave a review or shoot me a PM. Thanks for reading, and have a great day!**

 **~TheDragon12**


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